I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director (Patreon)

Chapter 39: Never Change

What Cloris said about "support" doesn't just refer to supporting Shinji individually but the entire team that includes Shinji.

"Lissy, you're not only beautiful but also quite smart in your thinking," Shinji shook his head.

From a short-term perspective, it's a good thing that the Type-Moon Film and Television Company is being acquired by industry giants like the Time Group. It can provide the company with a broader platform.

But looking at the long term, this poses significant hidden risks for the future of Type-Moon Film and Television Company.

Acquiring a company is based on a comparison of strengths, and Type-Moon Film and Television Company is nowhere near the scale of the Time Group. After the acquisition, Shinji is likely to lose his say in the matter.

Don't talk about signing power agreements; Shinji has seen enough cases where big companies acquire and then abandon smaller ones.

If Shinji only wanted to make money, selling the company and the team to the Time Group wouldn't be a problem. But in this life, Shinji is a dreamer, and he wouldn't be willing to give up on his entrepreneurial dreams so easily.

"It's impossible, Lissy, don't even think about the team being acquired. If you keep pestering me like this, I'll just go talk to another company."

Cloris wasn't bothered by Shinji's firm words. She smiled and said, "Shinji, can't you leave some room for our future cooperation? Just sign for one movie. Isn't that like letting the Time Group do the initial legwork, and then you can reap the benefits afterward?"

Shinji didn't respond to Cloris's words; he just touched his nose.

Cloris furrowed her brow, pretending to be very reluctant. "I admit that this Fate/Stay Night movie will sell well, but as you said, Shinji, it will require a significant investment from us in terms of promotion."

"So?"

Cloris squinted and smiled, "So, Shinji, you should leave us some profit margin, right? Without profit, no commercial company would invest."

Shinji pointed with his hand, "I've already compromised on the revenue share."

"That amount of money is just not enough; no matter how high the box office for a single movie, it's only so much. You should give your big sister more room to make money."

"Huh?"

Shinji made a confused sound.

"After all, the distribution cost of a movie is quite high."

Cloris counted on her fingers, "Movie advertising and promotion."

"Isn't your family running a TV station?"

Shinji retorted directly.

"Theater revenue share."

"Weren't these calculated in the initial costs?"

"Rating and censorship fees."

"Are you even counting these tiny costs?"

"There are also printing costs for promotional materials, magazine advertorials, film copying fees... From movie promotion to release, the money I have to spend on my end is countless."

Cloris lightly tapped the table with her hand after each item she mentioned, as if emphasizing how important the things she was saying were.

"Lissy, what you're talking about are the necessary expenses for normal film distribution; don't keep bothering about it."

Shinji clenched his teeth, his tone as if he were cutting his own flesh, "Since you insist so much, I'll give you an additional 0.2% profit share."

"Shinji..."

Cloris wanted to speak again but was interrupted by Shinji.

"Lissy, don't forget. Film and TV rights aren't just about theatrical release; they also include television broadcast rights and video tape rights!"

At this point, Waver suddenly stood up, took a few steps behind Shinji, and held onto the backrest of his chair. He loudly said, "If Miss Flora is still unwilling, our company is willing to throw in this guy as an extra for the contract."

"Waver! Are you rebelling?"

Shinji immediately voiced his opposition, not expecting himself to become a bargaining chip in the negotiation.

"Shinji, for the sake of all of us, can't you sacrifice a bit?"

"Damn it, what sacrifice!"

If it weren't for the fact that the conference chair couldn't easily be turned around, Shinji would have kicked Waver.

"Lissy, let me remind you of something."

Shinji put his hands on his knees and spoke with a final ultimatum, "My film made 2 billion yen in just one month in Japan. Based on the normal box office trend in Japan, my movie can easily reach at least 10 billion yen in box office."

"But Japanese box office is unpredictable, isn't it? Everyone knows Japanese box office is quirky."

Cloris squinted her eyes, staring at her old acquaintance.

At this point, it meant that the negotiation was entering its final stage. Both sides were vying for dominance, and if anyone showed weakness, their previous efforts would be in vain.

Shinji calmly accepted the pressure emanating from Cloris. He remained unshaken.

"How about this?" Cloris said, "Besides Fate/Stay Night, for the next five films from Type-Moon, Time Group will have the priority investment and distribution rights, with profit-sharing ratios the same as Fate/Stay Night, but Time Group will hold the global film and TV rights."

Cloris leaned forward, wearing a victorious smile on her face.

"Three films, with rights limited to 10 years. And..."

Before Shinji could finish speaking, Cloris slammed the table and interrupted him.

"Deal! The negotiation is a success!"

Cloris firmly grabbed Shinji's hand.

"That's the big picture, let our subordinates handle the rest."

"Make sure you don't break the deal, Shinji~"

Cloris smiled triumphantly.

She hummed a little tune while holding the documents and walked towards the meeting room door, leaving Shinji sitting in place, somewhat dazed.

"Oh, by the way, Shinji," Cloris turned back when she reached the meeting room door, "Regarding the rumors about you at the Clock Tower... Hey, where is he?!"

Cloris noticed that Shinji, who was sitting at the conference table just a second ago, had suddenly disappeared.

"He's already left," Waver, who stayed in his place, calmly remarked.

"Ugh, I thought I could use this opportunity to get some leverage over him," Cloris muttered, leaving the meeting room with reluctance.

"She’s  gone," Waver said to the empty room.

Shinji's figure reappeared in his original seat. He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Ugh, Rin, that girl really dug up my past, didn't she?"

"Not a bad invisibility spell," Waver commented academically.

Shinji responded casually, "It's just a concealment spell that can be used for a maximum of five minutes."

Waver didn't press Shinji on his magecraft but shifted the topic to the agreement.

"I didn't expect her to agree to the conditions you offered," Waver teased. "You miscalculated."

This made Shinji snort, "Lissy probably wanted to achieve this agreement from the beginning, deliberately using conditions she knew I couldn't accept as a cover."

Waver gave Shinji a sidelong glance, the meaning clear: "You figured it out and still agreed?"

Shinji shrugged nonchalantly, "I didn't want to cooperate with the Time Group, fearing Lissy might want to use her relationship with me to let them take over Type-Moon. Since Lissy doesn't have that intention, I have no reason to reject the Time Group."

"Moreover..." Shinji smirked, "Lissy didn't mention the peripheral products. Bandai has been eyeing the European and American markets for a long time."

Shinji wasn't sure if Cloris genuinely missed it or if she deliberately left it to him. But since she didn't want it, Shinji had no problem accepting it.

Even though this era had no precedent, examples of peripheral products being more profitable than box office revenue were abundant in Shinji's previous life.

Waver joked, "Heh, maybe that's Miss Flora's dowry for you. Don't you think... Hmm? Where is he?"

This time, Shinji had truly disappeared from the meeting room.

In the following days, Shinji and Waver participated in more negotiations, reaching agreements with more overseas distributors. Although the Time Group had a strong global distribution network, it couldn't cover every region, particularly Asia, which was mostly untouched.

So, Type-Moon had to negotiate separately with distributors in these countries and regions. Fortunately, the film markets in these areas were usually not large, making direct buyouts feasible.

As more cooperating distributors were secured, the price at which Fate/Stay Night was sold through buyouts far exceeded Type-Moon's recorded investment in the Fate/Stay Night project.

It could be said that Shinji had fully achieved his goal at the Cannes Film Festival exhibition. It also allowed him to gain a better understanding of the current world film market.

Although most of the professional reviews, including those from local French media, were quite average, with only a few positive words from British media, this didn't affect the eager purchase of the film by distributors.

Evidently, those within the industry who were most sensitive to box office numbers had seen through the essence of box office success, which was the enthusiasm of the audience, rather than the few words of film critics.

Shinji couldn't help but wonder when the film critic groups would wake up from their dreams.

However, what excited Shinji even more was that he was the one who caused this tsunami in the film industry!

Of course, not all distributors were interested in Fate/Stay Night. For example, a distributor from Hong Kong decided not to acquire Fate/Stay Night because they believed the movie wouldn't perform well in their local market. In Shinji's previous life, Hong Kong audiences weren't particularly fond of imported films, thinking that foreign movies couldn't match their local productions. This situation only changed with the release of "Jurassic Park," which led to the downfall of Hong Kong cinema, and it never recovered its position in front of foreign films.

In this world, there were no Hollywood blockbusters like "Jurassic Park." The mainstream of the Hong Kong film market remained its own local productions. So, when faced with Type-Moon's offer, the Hong Kong distributor, considering it too high, chose to pass on Fate/Stay Night.

Another distributor uninterested in Fate/Stay Night was an Indian distributor who straightforwardly mentioned that Fate/Stay Night had neither singing nor dancing, so it wouldn't attract an audience in India. To this, Shinji could only say, "You lot truly never change."